What If?
by Nigelcat1
Summary: What if things were different after Voldemort's presumed death? If Lucius went to Azkaban? If Sirius had died after killing Pettigrew? If some Death Eaters escaped imprisonment? If Dumbledore didn't know about Horcruxes? If Dumbledore actually had to explain things to people and not just have them blindly obey him? The possibilities are endless. Lots of bashing
1. Chapter 1 - Not According to Plan

WHAT IF?

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 1 – Not According to Plan

Lucius Malfoy was a wily, unscrupulous, manipulative and, if the truth be told, a truly evil wizard. He was also a coward and kept minions to do his dirty work for him so he liked to think of himself as untouchable. It helped that he had tons of money, was the Lord of an important family and had friends in high places. He prided himself on being able to escape being caught for the many unethical things he did and so far he had – until the Dark Lord fell.

He had joined the ranks of Death Eaters because he saw it as a way to acquire further power. Lord Voldemort had charisma, was probably the most powerful wizard ever to be born in Britain (Dumbledore be damned) and was an old school friend of his father, the mighty Abraxas Malfoy, who had conveniently died of dragon pox leaving his son Lord Malfoy and in full control of their vast wealth and power.

Much like Lucifer, the Angel who dared to defy God, pride was Lucius Malfoy's greatest fault. In the back of his mind plans were forming to betray Lord Voldemort once he conquered Britain and killed Albus Dumbledore. He would use his father's friend as a stepping stone by luring him into making him his second-in-command and then, when he least expected it, kill him and take over. He would become Lord King Lucius I and rule with an iron hand.

He had everything figured out and nothing could go wrong – except when it did. Lucius took the Dark Mark and that changed everything. Voldemort never fully explained what the mark consisted of, other than initiating people into his crusade and to use as a quick way to summon his followers. It was only after one was marked that one found out the extent of power Voldemort held over his followers.

First, one was forbidden to explain the mark to others before their initiation. Second, one suffered unimaginable pain when summoned and the longer you delayed answering Voldemort's call, the worse the pain until you responded. There were several other incidentals concerning the mark but the gravest was (in Lucius' opinion) was that those marked **could not personally harm or kill Voldemort** without suffering death.

Early on in the "war" (which Dumbledore called it) and the "crusade" which was what the Death Eaters considered it, a young Death Eater had been "convinced" by Dumbledore to capture "Tom" and bring him to justice and trial. Actually Dumbledore's plan was to have an innocent do the dangerous dirty work of bringing "Tom" to Dumbledore who would then ambush Tom, kill him and become a hero once again. However, the magic used in the mark recognized that harm was to be done to Voldemort and the innocent died in the attempt.

After Voldemort explained why the boy had died, he causally added "Even if one of you _**'accidentally'**_ harmed me, say in a battle a spell or curse you aimed at someone else _**'unintentionally'**_ struck me, the mark's magic would repay you three-fold. It would bounce off of me, hit you and…well you get the picture."

So Lucius had to develop a "Plan B" to get around the magic of the mark. But that was in the future. Lucius couldn't directly hurt Voldemort BUT he could influence others to get them in trouble and hopefully someone would do him the favor so that he could take over. His dream was to have Dumbledore kill Voldemort and then a vengeful Death Eater (hopefully his sister-in-law or her husband/brother-in-law so he could claim their wealth, power and estate for his son Draco) get rid of Dumbledore. While the world was in ruins and panic, Lucius would step in and – VOILA – King Lucius I would arise in a few years.

Lucius did his dirty deals without directly harming Voldemort and had not been caught. Then the unimaginable happened: Baby Harry Potter had supposedly not only defeated but had actually killed the Dark Lord.

Lucius saw his chance and took it. First, he Imperiused Bellatrix to disobey Voldemort's last order and attack the Longbottoms. Meanwhile, he arranged to plead being under the Imperious as well as some of his most faithful minions. He had already paid bribes to the proper people and gave the acting performance of his life in expressing his sorrow and shame at having been under that dark spell and being forced to do things he never would have done otherwise.

He hadn't been given Veritaserum, due to the bribes and thought he had gotten away with it. He had paid for his faithful, such as Crabbe and Goyle, to be exonerated and then concentrated on getting his enemies denied the same escape. Thus, the Lestranges, Carrows and others went to Azkaban.

The Potters had been killed and Sirius Black was being blamed for betraying them and was now a wanted man. Apparently the fool had gone after Peter Pettigrew who had really been the one to betray his best friends and Black had left his godson and heir with the half-breed Hagrid to be taken to Dumbledore. Lucius decided to sue for custody of the child and heir of two wealthy and powerful Houses. Narcissa was the closest relative in blood due to her Great Aunt Dorea being the mother of James Potter. The boy was also the acknowledged heir of Sirius Black due to Sirius being his godfather and since Sirius had no issue if he died or was sent to Azkaban, the boy would inherit. Narcissa was cousin to both Black and James Potter and thus had the best claim for custody.

However, Dumbledore had worked fast and immediately taken custody of the boy and already hid him from the danger of rouge Death Eaters and others who would seek to harm or use him. No, that jewel was Dumbledore's alone.

But then two unexpected things happened that made all of Lucius' carefully made plans become dust in the wind. Sirius Black had found Peter Pettigrew. He attacked immediately without giving Pettigrew a chance to respond. He did it at a Muggle shopping center and used magic in front of several dozen Muggles. As they scattered in panic, Black stood over the mortally wounded Pettigrew and further violated the Magical World's International Statute of Secrecy by castigating his former friend with his many sins but most importantly, causing the death of James.

After venting his spleen on the now helpless wizard, he saw that he was fading fast and Black wanted to see the light leave his eyes with one final blow. He cast the Avada Kedavra and Pettigrew died with a look of horror and pain on his face.

Then Black began to laugh like a madman. His laughter rang through the halls of the mall and it wasn't until his shoulder was grabbed by Auror Moody who spun him around to face him that the laughter stopped. However a smirk remained on his face as Moody asked "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

"Tying up loose ends" Sirius said beginning to actually giggle. He then took his wand and began to poke Moody in the nose (or what remained of his nose) and giggled "You always told us in Auror training not to leave anything to chance so I helped another friend bite the dust."

He might have said more but one of the younger Aurors accompanying Moody and the Oblivators saw only the wand and heard the last sentence and shouted out "Duck Moody" who did do that as the young Auror sent a silent spell at Black. He was only using a stunning spell but in his maddened condition Sirius wasn't taking any chances and quickly sent a cutting curse at the Auror. If the lad hadn't had good reflexes and thus moved out of the way, he would have been killed. It did wing him, cutting his wand arm and he let out a cry of pain.

Black laughed but at least he went out like one of the ways he wanted – laughing and with a smile. It was then he was hit by the other Aurors before Moody could do or say anything except put up a shield to protect himself. Sirius Black was hit with several curses but it was a cutting curse aimed at his jugular that killed him.

With Black dead and the Potter boy missing, this was now Lucius' chance to once again renew his plea to Lord Arcturus Black that since he was now without legal Pureblood heirs, he had to make Draco his heir. Much to Lucius' shock, after the deaths of his son Orion and his grandson Regulus, Arcturus informed Lucius that any child of Narcissa's body who had been sired by Lucius Malfoy would NEVER be Lord Black, so "Stop trying to foist your miserable brat on me as I still have other and more worthy heirs."

However, before Lucius could officially petition Lord Arcturus to settle the matter of heirs, old Arcturus struck first. He had been furious when he heard Lucius had pleaded the Imperious but denied it to others such as Narcissa's sister Bellatrix. Through his solicitors' extensive (and devious) investigations, he found out about the bribes and then outbid Lucius.

Having blackmail and money solved many a problem, and when Lucius received a summons from Gringotts that Lord Arcturus requested his appearance at the bank for "discussions" Lucius did a little happy dance in the privacy of his library and confidently went off to collect another inheritance for his son.

According to the laws of House Malfoy, Draco could inherit but not make use of any inheritances until his father died. The Malfoys used an old Roman law which gave the Head of House power and complete control over all children and lessor members of the House and that included the money they would earn through work or the dowries of their wives. Draco would inherit but it would be Lucius who would control and use the power and wealth that Draco received.

He was quickly led to a private conference room at the bank and was delighted to see that Ragnok, Head Goblin of Gringotts Britain, was present, his wife's old Head of House, Arcturus (who at the age of 80 should have been dead by now as Blacks didn't make old bones), Narcissa's formidable Aunt Cassiopeia and Darius Hawley, the Senior Partner at the law firm the Malfoys used (which was a very good omen) and Janus Whitby, from the law firm of Whitby, Wickham and Wolsey who Lucius knew was the solicitors for House Black and House Potter **.**

Millicent Bagnold, the Minister of Magic and recipient of many bribes from Lucius was also present. There were other people present but he ignored them as he sensed and savored victory. He should have noticed those people but he didn't, but he would soon find out that they would be aiding in his downfall.

Ragnok motioned for Lucius to sit on a chair exquisitely carved and covered with gold leaf. It looked and felt like a throne and Lucius smugly sat, knowing that he would eventually have a throne of his own.

He sat and it was then that he began to worry as his arms and legs were suddenly cuffed with magic-suppressing chains. Then Ragnok introduced all that were present starting with Lord Arcturus and ending with Amelia Bones, the new Head of Aurors.

"Information has been received at the Ministry" Millicent Bagnold nervously began "that you and others may have…may have not..." she then stopped as she couldn't bring herself to continue fearing Lucius' revenge if by some means he managed to avoid being convicted.

"What the Minister is trying to say" snapped out Janus Whitby "is that word has come to us that you might not have been truthful regarding you relationship with the late Dark Lord. Therefore, several prominent members of the Wizengamot have requested – no demanded – that you be administered Veritaserum."

Naturally Lucius strenuously objected but it didn't do any good as Amelia Bones simply administered the infallible truth serum to him and the questions were asked.

By the end of the day all of those who had pleaded the Imperious had been arrested by Aurors and brought in to be dosed with Veritaserum. Two days later the trials began and Lucius and the others he had saved joined their fellow Death Eaters in Azkaban.

Lucius was placed in a cell which Sirius Black would have been incarcerated had he lived. It was directly across from his sister-in-law, and as the Aurors left, one of them handed Bellatrix a letter from Lord Arcturus. It contained information about some of the things Lucius had done and intended to do to her and others, including the Dark Lord.

Needless to say, the witch exploded and then re-read the letter out loud so that the others would know of Lucius Malfoy's perfidy. The Dementors took a day off because they were actually intimidated by the yelling, threats, curses and the violence in the voices of those Lucius had betrayed.

His hell on earth had begun but others would soon find themselves in another type of hell as their plans and ambitions would crumble and destroyed.


	2. Chapter 2 - Infalllible

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 2 – Infallible

Lily Evans Potter was furious. All week her idiot husband had been planning new "pranks" and trying them out on her and even Baby Harry had fallen victim at times, such as the latest great idea he had. It was Halloween and Sirius and Peter were supposed to come over to celebrate. James had greased the entry of the foyer and as soon someone walked in the door – swish, they would slip and fall and falter while James used magic to keep them doing it until he laugh himself sick at their plight. Unfortunately, James greased most of the foyer and it was Lily, carrying Harry, who was the first to test it.

"James, you promised not to play any pranks today so what do you call this?" an angry Lily spat out as she slipped and slided and tried to comfort her baby. Both had fallen and fallen hard and now Harry was crying and she could already see a bruise forming.

"James fix this NOW" she demanded, but James was too busy laughing at the successful prank. Finally he managed to control himself and levitated his wife and crying baby to a place of safety. But this wasn't good enough for Lily as she lit into him with the fury of a mother whose child was injured.

"Get rid of all of it now!"

"Ah Lily Flower" James purred using his famous charm to pacify his wife. "You just proved how successful – and funny – this prank is and you will feel differently when you see Sirius and Peter…."

"Clean it up now – or else!" she screamed. "Harry is bruised and crying and…if you don't clean this up now…." She stopped as she knew you couldn't use any threats on James as he would just ignore them. He was a Pureblood Lord and she was just a Muggleborn and thus became his chattel once they were married.

If she disobeyed him, as Sirius liked to remind her, James could divorce her and cast her out not only from the marriage but the Magical World. Her wand would be snapped, she would lose all rights to Harry and be sent back to "Mudblood Land" as Sirius also said, and she had had no Muggle education since she left primary school, her parents were dead and she was estranged from her only living relative her sister Petunia. James and Sirius had seen to that so that Lily would be abandoned by her sister.

She took Harry upstairs, cleaned him up, put bruise cream on his boo boos, kissed him goodnight and settled him down to sleep. She put a small sleeping charm on him which would last at least for the time Sirius and Peter would be there. She then cleaned up and saw to her own bruises. She looked down to see that _it seemed_ James had cleared the foyer of the spell but knowing him he just might have hidden it to pacify her – and lure her into a false sense of security so that she would fall, slip and slide again for his amusement.

Well she wouldn't fall for it. She put on her nightgown, wrote a note to James and then took a dreamless sleep potion. She had not been sleeping well for weeks due to James' pranks, Sirius' "teasing" and Peter looking…guilty. Remus was under suspicion and was on a mission for Dumbledore. She constantly worried about Voldie finding them and for at least the 100th time asked why they were in hiding in a cottage when they could avail themselves of the wards and safety of Potter Place or the other homes James had inherited or she and Harry could simply leave the country and hide.

"Dumbledore knows what he is doing" was James' only reply. "If he says we are safer here, then we are so stop blubbering about it. He is NEVER wrong and believes that the war will soon be over."

But Lily knew that no one was infallible and she simply didn't trust Dumbledore. He always had something planned and always kept pertinent information to himself and shared with no one. He told the Potters and Longbottoms that there was a prophecy concerning their sons, which is why they had to go into hiding. Lily and Alice wanted to flee the country with their sons but Dumbledore forbade it and their husbands obeyed.

As she quickly drifted off to sleep she couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen and happen soon. She needed a good night's sleep or she wouldn't be able to cope.

James had cleared the foyer of the slip spell only because he had other pranks set up. All he had to do now was to wait for Sirius and Peter to fall into his traps, they would all have a good laugh and then they would celebrate with the fire whiskey, mead and Muggle alcoholic beverages Sirius was bringing and eat the food and goodies which Lily had slaved all day making.

'Yes life was good' James thought. Dumbledore had promised him and the others (except for Lily and Alice because they didn't need to know) that the war would soon be over, hopefully before Christmas as Dumbledore had put into place an inescapable trap for Voldemort or "Tom" as he called him.

Suddenly, James heard the front door blasting open and he jumped up to yell at Sirius who was no doubt playing a prank. He left his wand in the living room and ran out (thankful that he had cleaned up that slipping spell) and yelled "Sirius what do you think you are…."

But it wasn't Sirius or even Peter. It was Voldemort in all his glorious horror and he said those two deadly words of the killing curse which was the last thing James Potter heard or knew as he fell down dead with a look of shock on his face.

"Such a waste of Pureblood" Voldemort mused.

If Dumbledore hadn't gotten to them first and played them for fools who would obey only him, Potter and Sirius Black would have been a welcomed addition to the ranks of the Death Eaters. Both were talented wizards, the heirs of Ancient and Noble Houses, wealthy and powerful, and, if the truth be known, liked to hurt people. But Dumbledore had been very subtle and little by little swayed them to his side. He encouraged and mentored their "pranks" which had driven many politically helpless wizards into the ranks of the Death Eaters, the most notable being Severus Snape, Barty Crouch, Jr. and several talented Ravenclaws and even Hufflepuffs.

He did a point me spell and climbed the stairs to find the Mudblood which he had promised the invaluable Snape to spare. He found her in a deep sleep and noticed an empty potion vial and a note on the side table. The note was to James saying she had put Harry under a sleeping charm and she had taken a dreamless sleep potion to "finally get some much needed rest" and James, Sirius and whoever else coming to celebrate were to "leave Harry alone and let me have some peace or I will spell you silly."

Voldemort vanished the note and looked at the sleeping witch. She was indeed beautiful and he knew she was talented, powerful and intelligent. There was a possibility that such a…treasure… might not be a Mudblood but a descendent of a Squib. If only she hadn't thrown Severus over for Potter, the Dark Lord would have considered offering her a place in his crusade. He wouldn't have marked her and hidden her from the other Pureblood Death Eaters, but she could wed Severus and help brew potions, do research and produce healthy, powerful and intelligent offspring.

Looking at her he was pleased he didn't have to kill her if she tried to protect her child, as any real mother would. Perhaps he could obliviate her of the memories of her child, marry her off to Severus and once the war was over, begin breeding excellent children for his cause.

He then made his way to the nursery, quietly opened the door, and went over to the cot and looked upon the child who was prophesized to defeat him. Severus had only heard part of the prophecy and Voldemort had been suspicious from the start. At first he ignored it but then somehow word of a prophecy predicting his defeat by a mere infant had leaked out and the whispers among his followers had started. Then he felt _**compelled**_ to seek out the two children of the prophecy and put an end to it.

The child was sleeping and looked like a proverbial angel. He almost didn't want to harm the child but again an overwhelming compulsion hit him and he knew he had to make this child the angel he so resembled. He gently (for some reason) touched his wand to the child's head and whispered (again for some unknown reason) "Avada Kedavra" and was not prepared for what happened next.

His body disintegrated, leaving only his outer robe and his wand intact while the rest of him turned into ashes. He had felt his very being burst out of his body and the next he knew he was a disembodied spirit. Sensing a trap he fled as fast as possible grateful in the knowledge that the Horcruxes had saved his soul and magical core.

Scant moments later a frantic Severus Snape ran into the cottage after seeing the door blasted open. He almost tripped over the dead body of his boyhood enemy then took a brief moment of satisfaction that the sleaze was dead. He did a point me spell for Lily and raced to her bedroom. She slept like the proverbial Sleeping Beauty and Severus thanked every deity he knew when he found the empty dreamless sleep vial. He checked her over and found to his relief that she was indeed asleep.

He then ran to the next room with an open door and entered. The child was sleeping as he could see the gentle rise and fall of his tiny chest. It was then he noticed a lightning bolt wound on his little forehead and began to look around. He recognized the expensive outer robe his Lord had been wearing and then saw the wand. Could it be possible?

He felt magic in the air meaning that alarms had been triggered, so he had to act fast. He went back to Lily, picked her up bridal style and then felt for her wand under the pillow. He then tried to apparate hoping that either there were no anti-apparation wards in place or they had fallen. In any event, he was able to apparate away with his beloved Lily.

For once his notorious bad luck wasn't setting in as exacting 45 seconds after the apparation, Dumbledore entered the cottage. He smiled slightly seeing a very dead James and then made his way up to the nursery where he fully expected to see a dead Lily and maybe – just maybe – a dead baby. There was no Lily but there was a pile of ashes, an outer robe and Tom's wand. Again he smiled slightly and went over to the cot and saw a very alive, but unconscious baby with a new oddly shaped wound on his little forehead.

Excellent! Now he could put his Plans B, C and D in place and no one would be the wiser. He had already planned to get rid of Black, take control of the orphaned heir and increase his power and fame. Therefore, he apparated away to set things in motion. He was so smug in his perceived success that he failed to remember to look for the body of Lily Potter. It was a mistake he would soon regret.


	3. Chapter 3 - Trouble

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

NOTE: Sorry for the delay but Peeves is acting up (what else is new) and I was in an accident which put me out of commission for a while. There is heavy bashing of Dumbles and the Marauders. Don't like, don't read.

Chapter 3– Trouble

Severus Tobias Snape was in a lot of trouble. In fact, he was probably in more trouble than he had ever been in and considering the life he had led, that was a lot. He had been so eager to get his Lily away from her house, that even though he checked to see if the baby was alive, his only thought was to get her (and himself) to safety. He had fled to his bolt hole (which all sensible Death Eaters possessed), entered her into the wards, gave orders to Wilma (the house elf he inherited) to watch over Lily before he collapsed due to exhaustion and stress.

For the first time in quite a while, he slept the sleep of the dead. He didn't awake until the late afternoon of November 1st. He then remembered what had happened the prior day and jumped up to look for Lily. The sleeping draught she had taken should have worn off early this morning and no doubt she would have many questions as to WHY SHE WAS WITH SEVERUS SNAPE AND NOT HER HUSBAND AND CHILD.

Fortunately, Wilma was an excellent elf and when Lily began to stir, Wilma placed a sleeping charm on her as, she told a grateful Snape, "It seemed the best thing to do, considering the events of last night."

"How do you know what happened?"

"Wilma listens to the Wizarding Wireless for news and was shocked what was being said. So Wilma went out to get copies of _Daily Prophet_ and do a bit of snooping on Master's behalf of what was being said."

She then presented him with the _Prophe_ t and all of the weekly newspapers and magazines who had issued a special edition for the historic event. Snape paled more than normal when he read the _Prophet_ and then turned to the other rags for further information.

According to Dumbledore, the Dark Lord had attacked the Potters' hideaway, killed the parents and tried to kill the boy prophesized to defeat him but instead the child had defeated him. Harry wasn't hurt except for a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt. Dumbledore then said a lot of useless dribble, such as praising James Potter for valiantly fighting off Voldemort, and then whisking the little hero off to a safe place which only Dumbledore knew about.

The boy was said to be safe from the remaining Death Eaters and would be well-cared for and raised as an heir of an Ancient and Noble House should be until he was of age to attend Hogwarts. No other information was given other than it was for the safety of the "Boy-Who-Lived" (the title Dumbledore had bestowed on him) that no one, not even the Ministry of Magic, Child Services or Gringotts, would know where Harry Potter lived.

Apparently, Dumbledore hadn't checked to see if Lily was alive or dead, he merely announced it as true. No doubt the old %* #^ &*^ had planned for both Harry's parents to die or, in other words, he had used Snape by promising he would save Lily if Snape became his spy. Damn the old coot.

Of further note, he read with dread that Death Eaters were being rounded up and would be given a fair trial (yeah, right) and then sentenced to Azkaban or even be kissed by Dementors. A list of known Death Eaters was printed and yes, his name was on the list with "extremely dangerous, call the Aurors" next to his name as well as the names of the Lestranges, Carrows and several others. A reward was being offered for information leading to their arrests.

He noticed with interest that Sirius Black's name was on the list as apparently he was the Potters' secret keeper and had betrayed them to Voldemort. Dumbledore knew perfectly well that Pettigrew had recently been made the secret keeper because Dumbledore had cast the second Fidelius. Apparently Dumbledore wanted Black out of the way because he was Harry's godfather and would be the boy's guardian and Dumbles had other plans for the boy and his fortune.

Black was wanted dead or alive (preferably dead in Snape's opinion) so there was some justice in the world after all. But Black was the least of his problems at the moment. Wilma had the wireless on and more reports were being broadcast, each more titillating than the other.

Wilma informed him that Lily was waking up but Snape wasn't willing to face her yet. Instead he had Wilma continue the sleeping spell while he took a long, hot shower, carefully shampooed his hair, shaved and dressed in casual Muggle clothes. He then had a good breakfast – just in case it was to be his last meal ever once Lily woke up and killed him.

He sent Wilma out to get some clothes for Lily, Muggle and Magical, as well as getting the _Evening Prophet_ and some special food and drink, which were favorites of Lily. Wilma made a chicken pot pie, a nice salad and a chocolate mousse for pudding.

Finally, Snape decided it was time to wake Lily BUT he would silence and bind her while he explained everything as best he could.

Before she could ask why she wasn't in her own bed and why Sev was there, he had silenced her and begged to let him tell what he knew and what had happened. She couldn't move or speak but the glare in her Avada Kedavra eyes told him what she was thinking.

"And as of this moment, that is all I know and the wireless is still on and I have the newspapers and" he gulped "Would you like some dinner? The elf made your mother's chicken pot pie, salad and mousse" he stated meekly as if that would change her mood.

Severus Snape was a very brave man but at the moment, looking into the eyes of his only friend and love, he had a desire to run for his life. But he didn't. He owed that much to Lily. Praying to every deity he knew, he released Lily from the spells.

She didn't say anything and just glared at him.

"Wilma – my elf – bought you some clothes. The food is in stasis if you want to have shower." Since there was still no answer, he carefully handed her the papers and excused himself as he had a potion or two to brew. He had taken the precaution of keeping her wand with him, just in case.

He went to his lab and began brewing some calming drafts (for Lily) and bruise salve (the latter for him if Lily went ballistic). He finished the potions and saw that it had been an hour and a half since he had gone to the lab, and he summoned Wilma.

"What is Lily doing?"

"Missy had a shower, put on the Muggle clothes, read the papers and is listening to the wireless. She told me to fetch you in ten minutes for dinner before you summoned me."

"Is she…angry?"

"It is difficult to tell as she said nothing to Wilma except to ask for the clothes and then to call you for dinner in ten minutes. Missy is wearing her Pureblood mask – even though Wilma knows she is a Muggleborn."

Gathering his courage, Sev joined Lily in the dining area. She did look up at him, probably to acknowledge his presence, then looked down again at her meal again and began eating. Sev started a conversation but Lily said nothing. He remembered an old saying that if a man is silent, he is thinking but if a woman is silent she is angry. He knew she would be angry and the fact that she wasn't chewing him a new one was probably a good sign – maybe, but maybe not.

He was hardly touching his own meal because once he started talking it was difficult for him to stop because he was truly afraid that Lily would actually respond and he wouldn't like it. But as Sev reiterated his theory concerning Dumbledore's manipulations the wireless announced the murder of Peter Pettigrew and the subsequent death of Sirius Black. Dumbledore was giving a live press conference saying that Black was a traitor and responsible for the deaths of James and Lily Potter and he went looking for Peter to "finish the job of betraying those closest to James and to prevent poor Peter from testifying at Black's trial."

It was then that Lily spoke, or rather let out a string of curses against Dumbledore that shocked Severus. No doubt she had learned such language from James and Sirius. Once the press conference ended, Lily began to speak.

"I know your opinion of Dumbledamnit" she began calmly "Even when we were at school. I never truly believed you as he was the Hero of the Wizarding World, Leader of the Light and greatly respected. It was an unspoken rule in Gryffindor that if you said anything against him or even had a difference of opinion, you were immediately labelled as Dark, a traitor and a potential Death Eater. Despite me being a Muggleborn, I was accused of going to the 'Dark Side' when I defended you or spoke against the Marauders' treatment of you and others and was told they had Dumbledore's approval because their 'harmless pranks' were to lead you to the Light. I never believed it even after you called me…that name."

She took a deep breath before continuing "It was only later, after I married James and was pregnant with Harry that I found out the real truth of things, but by then it was too late as I was married to James and carrying the future Potter heir. Once the baby was born, Charlus would give me my freedom and raise the baby himself. He would also disown James due to some of the things he had done and would do when he became Lord Potter. While James' father was alive, I was protected but after he 'died unexpectedly' I was trapped."

"After Charlus' death, Dumbledore told us about a prophecy – which you had overheard and told Voldie about - so we had no choice but to go into hiding as soon as Harry was born. I wanted to be the secret keeper since for some unknown reason Dumbles refused but Sirius was, until about two weeks ago when _Dumbledore changed it to Peter, again for some unknown reason._ "

"So Dumbledamnit…knew…that Black was innocent? He knew Peter was a Death Eater and would sell you out to the Dark Lord…."

"Just call him Voldie," Lily said. "He's dead and gone and it is shorter and more repeatable in polite company than what James and Sirius called him."

"I've never trusted Dumbledore, especially after I found out he had played 'matchmaker' between James and me. It was Sirius who told me all of the dirt – after I was married and pregnant. As you know, James swore he would 'get me' without the use of magic just relying on his charm nor would the Marauders interfere. However, that didn't mean that someone else couldn't help."

"Sirius said that if they broke us up, I would naturally fall into James' arms. That was why they really started the crueler pranks against you. All of my roommates were constantly warning me that you were evil, dirty, ugly, poor and a dark wizard. If you will recall that day, James said in public that he would leave you alone if I went out with him. It wasn't the first time and I never would believe it because he usually broke his word when it suited him. Besides I truly…disliked…him."

"Then why did you go out with him and actually married him?" Sev asked.

"We were both spelled. Both you and I had been spelled on that day to not only lose our tempers but you were spelled to actually call me a Mudblood."

"Who did it?" Sev angrily demanded.

"I'm not sure, it could have been anybody as my roommates were all in on it and the Marauders had something on poor Frank Longbottom which they threatened to have printed in the _Daily Prophet_ if he wouldn't help them. Sirius wouldn't tell me what it was only that they had set it up, left him unconscious and taken pictures but it would surely ruin him. Naturally they broke their word after he helped them that day. They had given a copy of the pictures to Dumbledore. That was why Frank joined the Order and swore to obey Dumbles without question or the pictures would be published and NO ONE WOULD BELIEVE FRANK if Dumbledore said he was guilty."

"But you avoided him until seventh year."

"Yes I did but that was because good old Alice told me when I came back sixth year all about it. Frank was very upset and finally confessed to her what had happened and that all of my 'friends' were in on it as it was for my own good. Spells were cast on my parents' house to ignore you and for my parents to start hating you."

"However, Alice gave me an amulet that would stop or at least limit a spell being cast on me so all of those traitors constantly spelled me all of sixth year but I was able to resist and/or Alice removed a spell I was having trouble with. I couldn't go back to being friends with you as that would show that something was protecting me. But then seventh year came and Dumbledore arranged to make James Head Boy to my Head Girl, despite him being totally undeserving. You should have seen the smirk on James' face when I found out. I actually told McGonagall that I didn't want to be Head Girl if James Potter was Head Boy, but she wouldn't listen. She told me it was a great honor and if I was stupid enough to refuse, I would be expelled.

"She actually told you that?"

"I just said she did. It was also she who dosed me with Amortenstia, although it took a while and two more doses before the potion affected me so much was my hatred of James Potter. The rest is history."

"Forgive me for asking this, but Amortenstia is such a potent potion that you shouldn't be taking it if you are pregnant, and I know that it must have been constantly given to you to marry Potter."

"James' father tested me for it, but not until after I was married as I was never left alone with Charlus before I married James. James mentioned that he was going to get me pregnant as soon as possible just in case he was disabled or killed in the war and so that Charlus would have a grandson before he died."

"Naturally I was furious but couldn't do anything about it as we had been married in the old Pureblood tradition and…."

"And you became James' chattel since you were a Muggleborn. You could never divorce him but he could 'cast you out' if you displeased him, and he would have custody of any offspring you produced."

"Don't forget that he could – and did – cheat on me but if I was unfaithful to him I could be killed or at least exiled back to 'the filth I came from' without a wand as Sirius liked to remind me. Also if James died, I couldn't remarry or I would lose custody of any child, all financial assistance and again I could be exiled. I later found out that in James' Will, Sirius became the guardian of our child and me and I had no power whatsoever and was at Sirius' mercy. You know how merciful Sirius is."

Fortunately, Charlus used his power as Head of House to annul the marriage rite as Amortenstia is one of the few things that can negate such a marriage, or rather any marriage."

"So Harry is...illegitimate?" Sev asked carefully.

"Nope, thanks again to Charlus" Lily said with a smile on her face. As usual, Sev was mesmerized by Lily's lovely smile. He had missed that so much.

"You see Sev – how do I put this without shocking you too much – after the annulment…Charlus married me."

"WHAT!"

"He married me according to another ancient and rarely used rite. We never had sex but he arranged for me to conceive a Potter heir – something that James couldn't do."

"What? Then if you didn't have sex with Charlus and James was, I gather, sterile how did you….?

"This is where the tricky part comes in. The Potters didn't have children and time was running out. Charlus couldn't divorce his wife even for being barren due to the terms of the ironclad contract he signed with the Black Family. He desperately needed an heir and since he really did love his wife, he thought of a plan. He decided to get someone pregnant, pretend Dorea was pregnant and – viola – a Potter heir would be born. He knew Dorea would never approve but apparently she and her family knew she was infertile before she married Charlus and he could use that to obtain a divorce despite the contract."

"However, Dorea's niece, Walburga Black, had been childless for years but finally found a Chinese witch who through the use of special potions and spells, a child could be conceived. She was already carrying Sirius and Dorea knew her husband was up to something, so she jumped at the chance. In no time she became pregnant with James."

"Charlus must have been pleased," Sev noted.

"Yes and no. He was pleased that his beloved wife was pregnant and confirmed the fact. It showed the child would have magic and be a boy. So everyone was happy, happy, happy – except the foolish girl that believed Charlus would marry her if she got pregnant. He had no intention of doing so, just hiding the girl in a safe place until she gave birth and passing the child – also a magical boy – as Dorea's."

"So much for the famed honor of the Potters" Sev sneered. "What happened to the girl? Was she a Muggleborn who could be thrown to the wolves?"

"No, she was a Pureblood from a very good family. She would do anything to hide her shame and Charlus knew it. But now that his wife was finally with child, he didn't need her 'services' anymore and told her about his original plan. He, as he told me, being an honorable man (she heard Snape huff and sneer at that) offered her a choice. He suggested she take a world tour, which he would pay for, have the baby, give it up for adoption and no one would be the wiser. It would be best if he was born in another country so that he wouldn't be attending Hogwarts."

"Oh, how thoughtful" Sev cynically said.

"Of course, she couldn't keep the baby and she would have to return otherwise her relatives would worry and start looking for her. But she truly wanted the baby and refused that plan. He then advised her to take an abortion potion and get on with her life as he would deny he was responsible for the child and a blood feud would result and blood would be spilled, or as she would be ruined for life and her family would probably disown her and cast her out. You know the usual things that happen when such things occur."

"What did she choose?"

"She ran off with a Muggle of her acquitance, spelled him to believe the child was his and for marrying a Muggle, she was disowned, but got to keep her child."

"Charlus was now too old to do 'his duty' in the heir department, so he had a house elf seek out his illegitimate child, she spelled some sperm out of him while he was sleeping and that was used to impregnate me. Only Charlus, the elf and I knew about it."

"Then Charlus made a new, ironclad Will which basically disowned James and left everything to the heir I was carrying. He arranged through the laws of the House of Potter, to protect me, and announced in his Will his marriage to me and him being responsible for the conception of the heir as James was sterile and Charlus was disgusted with his behavior. He had three trustworthy friends swear on their life and magic to know about the arrangement but not to say or do anything unless James did something foolish – like kill me. The three and the Goblins made all of the arrangements and as I said before it was all legal, ironclad and unbreakable."

"James didn't find out until Charlus' Will was read. James first had to swear an oath on his life and magic before he was allowed to read it and he could not reveal the contents of the Will to anyone, but especially Dumbledore. The way the Will was worded left James with the impression that Charlus had 'done the deed' and if James didn't believe it, he should get a fertility test. Under no circumstances could James or anybody else harm me or the child or they would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If something happened to Harry or even me, James would lose the G25,000 per annum allowance Charlus left him and would be prosecuted along with anyone who helped him."

"I heard later from the Goblins that James threw a temper tantrum of epic proportion and he had to be given several calming potions – and warnings – to adhere to the terms of the Will or kiss his life and magic goodbye. He was given several excuses to use to explain to Dumbledore why he wouldn't be donating the huge amount of money he had promised him 'for the war effort' nor giving him the Wizengamot votes the Potters held."

"Unfortunately Charlus died of dragon pox, which was odd as he had it as a child and you can't get it again."

"That was a euphemism used for an unusual death" Sev replied. "Some say it means that someone was killed by Death Eaters but there is either no proof or something was 'unexplainable' concerning the way a person died. It might mean that Charlus Potter was…called before his time, shall we say."

"Oh I agree completely. It was after his death and a few months after Harry's birth that we had to go into hiding and I was basically trapped with Harry in the cottage. James left on 'Order business' on occasion but not me. I couldn't even send a letter and Dumbledore thought it would be a bad idea if we had a house elf as they could betray us."

"That's ridiculous! A house elf cannot betray their owners" Sev snapped out.

"I know that but apparently James and Dumbledore thought they could tell me anything and I'd believe it. Besides, James liked to see me cooking and cleaning and taking care of the baby as that was a wife's main duty. Sirius said it proved that I had some worth after all – that as a house elf."

"Now I have a question for you Sev. Did you leave Harry because he was James' son?"

"I told you I saw Potter dead, ran up to the nursery, saw the 'pile' and James' son alive and peacefully sleeping and went looking for you. I just barely had enough time to rescue you before I heard noises meaning that someone was coming. I simply didn't have time to get back to him."

"Because he was James' son?" Lily asked. "He is also my son, had somehow survived Voldie and had those noises been Death Eaters entering, they would have killed Harry" she spat out angrily.

Snape had nothing to say to that because Lily could always tell he was lying. But she wasn't finished with him.

"Dumbledore has my son, James, Sirius and Peter are dead and it was announced publically that I am also dead. Apparently he has disregarded the Wills and has hidden Harry away not from Death Eaters but everybody else, such as Alice Longbottom, Amelia Bones, Poppy Pomfrey and McGonagall, who are the others who would care for Harry if Sirius was unable to."

"I have a truly horrible feeling that despite the terms of the Will barring Petunia and her pig of a husband from ever getting custody of Harry due to their hatred of magic that Dumbledore has placed Harry with them and put up wards so that no one can find him. You remember Petunia, don't you Sev?"

He did indeed and he wouldn't wish even Potter's son to be placed there.

"Lily, I agree with you that Dumbledore would have put up all types of wards, one of them being an alarm which would notify him if a Magical got anywhere near Harry. For the moment you are safe here, but if you go on a rescue mission now, you will no doubt be discovered, captured and Merlin knows what would happen to you. You might be joining Potter, Black and Pettigrew and no one would be the wiser.

Lily thought for a moment then said "Okay, I'll wait a week or so for any news and to make plans but somehow I will be getting my baby back with or without your help."

With that stated she got up to leave the room but when she got to the doorway, she turned and said "By the way Sev, the girl that Charlus ruined because she wanted to keep her baby, her name was Eileen Prince and she married a Muggle by the name of Tobias Snape."

She then left leaving a very surprised, shocked and livid Severus Tobias Snape with his thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4 - Planning and Surprises

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 4 – Planning & Surprises

Lily wouldn't admit it, but she was suffering from shock. All she wanted was to find her baby and take him away from all of the strife, danger, worry as well as the manipulations of that nasty old wizard Dumbledore. Now he had captured her child, proclaimed her to be dead and since he probably had no use for Sev, he would be thrown to the wolves despite agreeing to spy and help the Order. Azkaban and/or the Kiss would be his fate, one which he certainly didn't deserve any more than she had nearly suffered if she hadn't been rescued by Sev.

Wilma kept them supplied with the newspapers and gossip she overheard, as no one paid any heed to a house elf. She also bought a lot of food from the Muggles (glamoured as a human, of course) as it was cheaper and someone might get suspicious of an elf stocking up on food. They might be a Death Eater's elf, one who "escaped justice" and thus followed or trackers placed on the supplies so that the Aurors could find and capture them.

They listened carefully to the wireless which had been reporting almost non-stop regarding the "victory" as well as the capture of Death Eaters. They heard the news that the Longbottoms had been cruciated into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange, the cousin of the traitor Sirius Black and sister-in-law of Lucius Malfoy. She and her husband Rudolphus had been captured but not without a fight. Two Aurors were killed and three wounded. The other two unidentified Death Eaters who had been with them had escaped and it was assumed that they had taken baby Neville with them.

It was thought by those in the know (Dumbledore) that the two who had escaped had been Rabastan Lestrange and the evil Severus Snape. A reward of G1,000 each was offered for their capture dead or alive. A reward of G5,000 was offered for the rescue of the Longbottom heir but only if he was alive – and unharmed.

Lily had cried when she heard that news. She was Neville's godmother and Alice had been her only real female friend. She announced to Sev that once they rescued Harry, they had to find Neville and not for the reward as somehow Dumbledore would get his hooks into Neville despite his grandmother being still alive.

She was surprised when Sev agreed with her – the part of Dumbledore wanting to control Neville. "He was the other child of the prophecy, which is probably why the Lestranges' went after him when the Dark Lord was reported killed. I heard a rumor that Lucius was trying to talk the Dark Lord into going after the Longbottoms first and then the Potters."

"Well we have to rescue both boys ASAP. I need to leave your bolt hole for a moment to call my personal elf. It is a Potter elf which Charlus freed and then immediately bound to me and me only so that James couldn't force her to obey only him. James didn't know about Cheery being bound only to me for safety sake. After Charlus' death and when we went into hiding, Dumbledore offered to 'give the elves shelter at Hogwarts so that they didn't lose their magic and waste away' and idiot James agreed."

"Do you think the elf will come when called, considering you are officially dead?"

"Yes, as once when James was out I called her and she came. She told me that the Head Elf at Hogwarts told them that they were now Hogwarts elves and no longer Potter elves and were subject to the Headmaster only. Cheery said that none of the elves believed it but they were told that if they didn't obey and conform, James had authorized Albus to give them clothes. Also they were forbidden to leave Hogwarts for any reason, even if James called them. He showed them a deed sign by James with a blood quill stating the fact. Cheery was the only one who wasn't a Potter elf, nobody knew and thus she wasn't under Dumbledamn's control."

Just to be safe, Lily apparated far away from the bolt hole along with Sev, who would be hiding while she called her elf. He could rescue her if something unforeseen happened, as one never knew with Dumbledore.

Lily called and Cheery came immediately. Then followed the usual house elf dance of thanks for Lily surviving, how the elf never believed she was dead otherwise she would have felt it, how all of the other Potter elves were wailing and weeping since "nasty old, hairy man was keeping them from serving the little master and many other things before Lily gently stopped her.

"I need information about what 'nasty old, hairy man' is doing, where Harry is and who survived and most of all I need money both Muggle and Magical."

Charlus had given Lily a vault at Gringotts completely separate from the other Potter vaults and Harry's trust vault. Naturally James didn't know and thus (hopefully) neither did Dumbles. When he opened the vault, Charlus gave specific orders that no one was to know about it except him, Lily and the elf that he brought with him. If he and Lily both died, then the elf could use it for the baby to take care of him. He had also made other arrangements that he hadn't told Lily about - just in case someone legitimized her (any guess who). As a further precaution, he didn't use any of the Potter or Black account managers, instead Lord Ragnok, the head of Gringotts Britain because the manager – after he swore a few sacred oaths (for a fee of course).

Cheery could now tell Lily the details but Lily ordered that she get some of the money first and then she would be added to the wards of "Lily's hideaway" and then plan for the rescue of Harry and Neville. "Oh and please have Ragnok check you for trackers or any other spells cast on you."

An hour passed as Lily, who had gone to Sev's side to hide and wait for the elf's return, started worrying. Sev was trying to talk her into going back to the bolt hole when the elf popped in and called for her mistress.

"This elf asks forgiveness from Mistress as it took much time to see the great Ragnok despite the token this elf had. Then he had to get money together, write you a letter of explanation and ask if you knew where Dumbles had taken Master Harry."

Lily and Sev apparated back to the bolt hole and then Lily called Cheery. The elf was allowed into the wards, introduced to Wilma and then busied herself ogling little Harry, while Lily read Ragnok's letter aloud.

"Ragnok said Dumbles' showed up about 15 minutes after James' death was recorded on his personal vault. He then demanded to see the Will James left because he was the executor of the Potter estate. Ragnok was not immediately notified of James' death as he should have been since James was the supposed Lord Potter. Apparently, James had bribed the Potter account manager, to allow Dumbledore access to several things that James still retained, such as his personal vault and, sad to say, Harry's trust vault, as money was to be deposited yearly into Harry's vault for his care and upkeep if James died – not me, just James."

"Just so you know Sev, James made out HIS WILL and I, being the Mudblood that I am, was not allowed to make one out myself as 'there was no need since James had a Will' nor was I allowed to know the contents of the Will. The only thing he would tell me was that Sirius was to be Harry's guardian IF JAMES DIED and Sirius was to be my guardian also. If Sirius was dead or incapacitated, Frank Longbottom – oh and Alice – were to be Harry's guardians and Frank was to be my guardian. Then it went to various other people but for some strange reason, James said Dumbledore was not to be Harry's guardian and Harry was definitely not to go anywhere near Petunia and her husband."

"Is that why you think he is there?" Sev asked.

"Of course, Dumbledore sealed and then confiscated the Will and declared himself Harry's guardian and thus had access to the trust vault for Harry's upkeep. Charlus had set up the vault with G100,000 and since James is dead, on August 1st G25,000 per annum is transferred from the main vault to Harry's for his care."

"Then Dickbledore totally ignored a legal Will – unless James lied to you."

"I don't think James lied to me – on this occasion – as both he and Sirius were very angry with Dumbles after Charlus' Will was read. Besides I think James and Sirius really loved Harry."

"Only because they didn't know he was my child."

"True, but they liked playing with him and Sirius was his godfather and named him his heir should he die without issue. It was all nice and legal and since Dorea Potter was a Black, Harry had a claim, especially since Regulus died without issue and the only other candidates were Draco Malfoy, but Lord Arcturus is still alive and hates Lucius, as well as…."

"Damnation" Lily suddenly spat out. "I just remember something Alice told me. Callidora Black, Dorea's and Arcturus' cousins, married Harfang Longbottom, Frank's grandfather. Frank is now incapacitated but Neville could inherit the Lordship if Arcturus deems it so."

Sev added "Then that was probably the reason why Lucius was so eager for Voldie to go to the Longbottoms first as Neville is a Pureblood while Harry is just a Half-blood. With Frank and Neville out of the way, Draco would have a better claim than Harry due to him being 'pure' which is the most important thing to the Black Clan."

"Now that I think about it," Lily said "Sirius bragged that he and James had started the fight between Slytherins and Gryffindors during the Christmas break when people were shopping for Christmas in Diagon Alley. Bellatrix was very pregnant but was caught in the crossfire while she was trying to get Narcissa and herself into a shop for protection. Bella was hit with a spell and it was said that it was Frank Longbottom who cast it at a Slytherin, who ducked and got Bella instead. She fell into the shop picture window and nearly died. However the baby was too young to survive and Bella was not able to have another child due to the internal damages the spell and the fall caused."

"Yes, I remember hearing about that," Sev replied. "Bellatrix liked to tell everyone what she was going to do to any child Frank sired so he would know a bit of what she suffered. The odd thing was that Narcissa said she thought it wasn't Frank who cast the spell but someone else, but no one believed her."

"They should have," Lily replied. "Sirius bragged that he was the one that actually cast the spell and he and James placed the blame on Frank-the-Sap-Who'd-Believe-Anything, as they called him. Frank was devastated as he knew he was aiming at a Slytherin seventh year, who did avoid the spell and was near Bellatrix but he wouldn't have cast it if he thought he'd hit anyone, especially a pregnant woman."

"I don't know if you ever heard Sirius saying he wanted to destroy the House of Black because it didn't deserve to exist. His dear cousin didn't deserve to have children as they would turn out to be just like her and all of her relatives – dark and evil."

"At least Bellatrix and Rudolphus were captured and are in Azkaban. Do you think Rabastan would harm Neville as now Rabastan is again the Lestrange heir and Neville would have a better claim to the Black Lordship than Draco" Sev asked. "They could be holding him hostage to use as leverage for Lord Arcturus' help in escaping and Lucius would be livid. Being in Azkaban, he couldn't do anything about it."

"Therefore, it is probably Rabastan and his good friend Barty Crouch, Jr. who have the boy."

"Barty Crouch, Jr. is a Death Eater" Lily asked.

"You would be surprised just how many Death Eaters from houses other than Slytherin there are, and you have the Marauders to thank for that. Dumbledore chose certain people for them to 'prank' unmercifully so that they would come to Dumbledore for help. Usually it was a child of someone in power who didn't agree to follow Dumbledore in politics or his other schemes. There was a running joke that Dumbledore and the Marauders were the best recruiters of Death Eaters from other houses."

"Do you know if Rabastan and Barty have a bolt hole?" Lily asked.

"I _think_ Rabastan does, because Bellatrix was trying to convince Rudolphus to make Draco his heir so that the House of Lestrange wouldn't go extinct. He was fighting it as Rabastan was now the heir apparent and if something happened to him, there were a cousin or two with children who would inherit. Rabastan was intelligent enough to know if Bellatrix succeeded, that meant that both brothers would soon _'die in the service of their Lord'_ and so did Rudolphus, which is why he kept refusing to do so."

"What about Barty?"

"He is under his father's control and has no money of his own so couldn't afford one. He doesn't even have a job yet as his father is forcing him to attend a Muggle college to learn the ins and outs of finance so that he can help his father when Barty, Sr. runs for Minister of Magic. Therefore if it is him, he is probably hiding with Rabastan because if he is outed by others, Barty, Sr. wouldn't hesitate to throw him to the wolves to save his own career."

Lily went back to reading the letter which ended with a request for her and Sev to meet with Ragnok. Naturally it would be secret and Ragnok swore on his honor that no harm would come to them. He gave them an address that was neutral – a small cottage at a seaside resort which Ragnok had access to. He had some very important information for Severus Snape which would be of great interest to him.

So at midnight, Lily and Sev had Cheery take them to the rendezvous (since house elf apparation wasn't usually traceable) and met with Ragnok.

He handed them letters written by Charlus. In Lily's, Charlus explained some of the things he had also done concerning her and his grandson's safety. There was more money and a new property that was warded out the wazoo based on Lily's blood (a sample of which he had sneakily had taken from her by Cheery). It was a good letter and Lily was touched by his further concern.

The letter to Severus Snape was the revelation that he was his biological father and his sincere apologies for what he had done to Eileen.

 _"But my hands were tied and I really needed an heir and Dorea was barren. Your mother had always liked me – she had a girlhood crush on me – and Augustus Prince was negotiating marriages for her but none of the candidates were to her liking. To my great shame, she jumped at the chance to marry someone she wanted and not the goons her father was choosing."_

 _"It is also to my great shame and regret that your life was further ruined by…my wife. She knew I was up to something regarding the getting of an heir and she was too jealous to let me have a surrogate. Apparently, she wanted me to leave the Potter Lordship and wealth to one of her relatives, which she already knew I could never do because it is in the laws of the House of Potter that if there is no heir – even a Squib – the House closes forever."_

 _"After the birth of James I was elated, and concentrated only on him. I heard that Eileen had run off with a Muggle thus dooming herself to shame and disinheritance, but at least she got to keep her child. I made arrangements to anonymously pay all of your tuition and money for your school supplies so that no son of mine would attend Hogwarts on the charity fund. It wasn't until the 'incident' with the werewolf in your sixth year that I found out that you were indeed on the charity fund, dressed in third-hand robes, had used books and did tutoring for spending money. It seems that although the funds were sent, they were not used for you for some unexplained reason. I have no proof but I think since it was anonymously sent that $*#$^^ &*^&^ of a Headmaster used it to outfit someone 'more worthy' to save them from the shame of being on the charity fund._

 _"After the 'incident' when Abraxas Malfoy contacted me to tell me that a friend of Lucius was in danger of being expelled having been set up by James and Sirius, who was then under my protection, I used my influence to keep you in school telling Dumbles that I wanted justice for the shameful thing James and Sirius had done to you. Apparently it was a setup and James was to rush in at the last moment to save you with you thus thinking you now owed him a life debt. I had to dose him with Veritaserum to get the truth and then found out that when James went off to school he was to_ _ **'find a worthless, ugly, stupid fool named Snape and make his life a living hell**_ _.'"_

 _"He said his mother had made the request as the Snapes were dishonorable, worthless people who didn't deserve to exist let alone have the gift of magic. I later slipped Dorea Veritaserum and found out that she knew about the surrogate and didn't rest until she found out who it was. She then had one of the Black elves which was part of her dowry pay a visit to your once happy home and spell Tobias Snape to become the drunken, abusive man he did. If you recall, it wasn't until you were four when he started abusing you and your mother. At that point in time, there was nothing I could do about it."_

 _"However, I did make arrangements in my Will to leave you something (although only Ragnok will know about it) and I finally contacted Augustus Prince and confessed everything to him. His heir, your Uncle Septimus, died without issue, and he was considering a cousin to leave the Prince Estate and Lordship to. I admit that I informed him the cowardly way by having Ragnok call him to the bank and give him a written letter and explanation. I was afraid he would kill me for dishonoring his House and I had too much to do before dying such as making arrangements for the House of Potter to have a real heir."_

 _"As Ragnok will tell you, Dumbledore is up to something and it involves Lily and any child she would have. I had a heritage test done on her – at a Gringotts on the Continent arranged by Ragnok – because the Goblins are obligated by law to notify certain persons if one is done. Apparently you have to have the permission from the Ministry and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot who have the power to approve or disapprove the test being done. Dumbledore arranged for this law to be passed even before he became Chief Warlock, no doubt for his own purposes. I found out something very interesting concerning Lily's true heritage which also concerns you."_

The rest of the letter mentioned monies, contacting Augustus Prince as soon as possible because he had been unable to contact his own grandson whose mail was being redirected by two people. Lucius Malfoy and Dumbledore had both redirected his personal mail even from Gringotts. He was warned by Charlus that Lucius wasn't his real friend and again Ragnok would explain.

Sev allowed Lily to read the letter while he asked Ragnok several questions. The Goblin Chief responded as best he could before he announced that they should leave this place soon and he would contact them another time.

"After I found out about James' death not being reported directly to me and what Dumbledore had done with the Will, I had a 'chat' with the Potter's, Black's and Prince's account managers. They have been taking bribes from many concerning these accounts and they have been 'dealt with' but much damage has been done which I will try to correct."

"However, since Dumbledore the Gloognikseitic - you don't want a translation of that Goblin word – worked fast and claimed the boy and told the world he was appointed the boy's magical guardian by James himself, he has used the full force of his power to thwart what I or anyone else can do. But I won't give up and am trying to contact Augustus Prince."

"Send your elf to me tomorrow and I will give you an update, a copy of the heritage test of Lily and the heritage test Augustus had done years before Charlus' confession."

With that said Ragnok gave them a few more documents and a special portkey to Cheery. Then the Goblin left and Cheery popped Lily and Sev back to the bolt hole. There were many things to be done before any rescue of Harry and/or Neville could be attempted and much more to think about with the revelations of the past few days.


	5. Chapter 5 - Waiting

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

NOTE: Sorry for delays but Peeves was attacked by some #*#*#&&& and then Windows 10 got its claws in him. It was a big mess and I just got him back yesterday from the computer doctors.

Chapter 5 – Waiting

Ragnok did not get back to them the next day or the day after that. Lily wanted to send Cherry to find out what was the delay but Sev reminded her that Ragnok said "He would get back to us and we were to wait and read the documents. You don't want to anger a Goblin, especially one who holds our lives in his hands."

"But what if something had happened to Ragnok? What if he was 'dealt with' by another Goblin? What if Harry was sent to Petunia? If he was you can just imagine how she and her brute of a husband are treating him."

"According to his last letter, if we haven't heard from him in seven days, then we can worry and go to his Plan B."

But Lily would not be consoled as she was terribly worried about her baby as well as her godson Neville. If Rabastan and Barty, Jr. had him, who knew what they were doing to him. He could be already dead or tortured into insanity like his parents had been.

Even without using legitimacy, Sev knew that Lily was thinking of sneaking out to her sister's house to look for her baby. He went so far as to explain to Cherry why her mistress should not leave the house until they heard back from Ragnok.

Sure enough, Cherry caught Lily trying to sneak out and, for her mistress' own good, stunned her and informed Sev. Again, for her own good, Sev decided to keep Lily under a sleeping charm until Ragnok contacted them or seven days had passed.

On the sixth day, Ragnok did contact them by summoning Cherry and giving her a letter and a verbal message. It said _"I apologize for the delay but I have been fighting for my position and my life and the lives of my family. I have two daughters who are married to…dishonorable…Goblins. Those two falnamuckloos (you don't want to know the translation) not only tried to assassinate me and take over if not my position than at least be rewarded by him who did. I barely survived and had it not been for a few faithful minions, I would have died."_

 _"Naturally, I had to purge the bank and the falnamuckloos were 'dealt with' much to their shock. They thought that because they were married to my daughters, they would receive mercy. The only mercy I gave was to my daughters and their children since they swore on their children's lives they knew nothing about the attempted coup. However, HONOR compels me to disown them but at least they will live."_

"Oh how sad" Lily commented. "To lose your children and grandchildren because of what your in-laws did."

"That is the Goblin way. At least they are still alive and no doubt some money has been secretly provided for their upkeep" Sev opined. "But from what I know about Goblins, Ragnok will be despised by allowing them to live. He will be seen as being weak and his reputation will take a long time to recover – if it ever does."

The letter had other information, which did not sit well with Lily or even Sev. Apparently Dumbledore had stuck his big nose into Gringotts business. At the moment Ragnok couldn't prove it, but he believed that it was that "Habbatitius (again you don't want to know the translation) wizard had a hand in the revolt as Ragnok was adhering to the Wills of Charlus and James Potter and would not approve of Dumbledore being Harry's guardian. Ragnok knew what both Wills contained and although it could not be done with Charlus' Will, James' Will was sealed by the Habbatitius using his power as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and being James' mentor and great friend.

"Ragnok told this elf to tell you that - Cherry doesn't want to use such language as it is very, very…obscene – but Dumbles has told the world that Sirius Black was the secret keeper and betrayed James and Harry Potter. Now that Sirius Black is dead, his name is to be blackened for all time and he has been pust…pustimy…."

"Are you trying to say posthumous?" Sev asked.

"Yes – this elf thinks that is the word." "Bad Headmaster has been named the official guardian of Harry Potter since both his parents and traitorous godfather is dead. Wizengamot proclaims it so but Ragnok says that only the trust vault can be used for the child's care and school expenses and there is a limit on the money that can be taken out per year."

"And how much is that?" Lily asked.

"This elf thinks it is G12,000 a year. Ragnok said the Habbatitius wanted the coup to succeed and have the new leader grant him access to ALL Potter money."

Lily sneered at this announcement "That sounds like something Dumbledamnit would do. No doubt he will use it to finance the Order."

"Why?" Sev asked. "The Dark Lord is dead, so why keep the Order active?"

"Because he will say that Voldie will be back or something similarly impossible. If he has access to even the G25,000 per year James received, he could keep his private army alive 'to fight evil or some such nonsense'." I overheard him tell James that since he had his Auror pay, the G25,000 allowance Charlus gave him was desperately needed to finance the Order and probably would be even after Voldie was destroyed. Apparently 'Evil never dies and there will always be the need for such organizations like the Order to fight it.'"

"Do you mean he intended to keep the Order in existence as his own private army?"

"Of course" Lily replied. "He had big plans for when James inherited the Potter wealth and power. Like Ragnok, I can't prove it, but…I think Charlus was 'dealt with' by Dumbles. It was a great shock to James when he was basically disinherited and the unborn baby in my womb was made the heir. Dumbles was LIVID when James told him about the disinheritance but couldn't tell him what the Will said. So he plotted and planned and talked James out of his allowance."

The letter ended with Ragnok saying to "ask the elf" for the information he dare not put in a letter. Hopefully, he would get back to them in a few days or as soon as he had "cleansed Gringotts of the filth" and he urged them to have patience.

"Okay Cherry, what did Ragnok tell you that he couldn't put in a letter" Lily anxiously asked.

The elf sighed before she began the messaged. "Goblin Ragnok said he had to use a human private dick(?) or something to find Petunia as blood magic had been used to hide her and her family. It was done by Dumbles so it probably means that is where Baby is. Habbatitius has been confirmed as Baby's guardian and authorized to withdraw G1,000 per month for Baby's maintenance and he did but said that part of it should be in £1,000 in Muggle money."

"That confirms the fact that Harry is with Petunia and now we can…."

"Goblin says to stay put as there are much magic around the house which will alarm Dumbles if 'unauthorized magical persons' go anywhere near the house. It is a trap, Goblin says, but he is working on it, SO BE PATIENT."

"Also he was contacted by Andromeda Tonks who said Rabastan Lestrange had contacted her to use as a go-between between him and 'another' to communicate with Lord Arcturus Black. They have Neville because they saved his life from crazy Bella and they will only give the boy back – unharmed – if Lord Black arranges for them to leave the country and gives them money to live on so they can start a new life. He said both were forced into being Death Eaters by either family or by Dumbledore."

"As it is now, only Ragnok can contact Lord Black because the great lord is in hiding – fearing his own family will kill him so that Draco Malfoy can inherit the Lordship, money and power. Rabastan showed Missy Tonks a newspaper dated the day Rabastan contacted her and little Neville's face was next to it proving he was alive. He was even smiling and holding a cute kitten. Goblin Ragnok didn't tell this elf what was happening only that he was trying to contact Lord Black but with no success."

"So we are just supposed to wait when we know where Harry is?" Lily snapped. "I know where Andromeda Tonks lives so why can't I contact her in regard to Neville?"

"Lily, I know waiting is frustrating but it wouldn't be logical to just blindly rush in to Petunia's or Andromeda Tonks. It will not only prove you are still alive but you might be captured – and then 'dealt with' like Charlus."

"Cherry, does Dumbledore know I'm alive? I was asleep until Sev rescued me so there was no body to be found, so I could be alive."

"Ragnok said the house burnt down as soon as Baby was rescued by Hagrid, destroying everything. It is thought your body was burnt just like James Potter was. Dumbles said a memorial for Missy and James Potter will be held when 'things calm down'."

"But does Dumbles think I am dead?"

"That was probably why the house was burnt down" Sev opined. "Did you have a private vault other than the secret one Charlus arranged for you to have?"

"I did have one but when we went into hiding James 'took the liberty' of combining my vault with his as it was a waste for me to have my own. As you know I was apprenticed to Filius Flitwick to get a Masters in Charms and I had created two charms which Filius had patented and thus I received G1,500 prize money. James knew it and apparently wanted the G1,500, so when he died his death only was listed as the vault was in his name, not mine."

"Oh yes Missy" Cherry added. "Goblin Ragnok said Lord Charlus arranged for the secret vaults to be in another name so no one could have connected it with you and Baby if Ragnok died. As of now ONLY Goblin, you, Baby when he is 11 years old and Master Sev can access it."

"What is the name?"

"Gaufern" was the reply. "It is a combination of your mother's maiden name and the last of the Slytherin heirs."

"So Gaunt and Ferndale – that was your mum's maiden name I believe" Sev stated "and since no one would connect you with the Gaunts and your mum's name would not be known by perhaps even Dumbles, it couldn't be connected with you. Cherry do you know if the vault Charlus established for me has a created name?"

"This elf doesn't know but perhaps it is mentioned in the documents you were both given."

Although they had scanned the documents when they received them, they only looked for things that were important to them at the moment. A careful reading of the documents revealed the Gaufern name as well as one for Snape.

Snape's only reply at seeing the name was "Where the hell did he come up with that one?"

"I guess we will have to do some research when we have the time – and Harry and Neville" Lily said trying to hide her smile. Apparently James wasn't the only prankster in the family or Charlus had a warped sense of humor.


	6. Chapter 6 - Finally Action

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 6 – Finally Action

The wily Ragnok had a great idea to rescue the Potter heir. Lily had given him all of Petunia's info and although he couldn't find the house because Dumbles had cast a spell preventing any magicals finding it or entering if they did, he could contact Vernon at his workplace and "come to a suitable agreement" in order to get Harry back.

At the current time he could not trust anyone to make contact so he had to do it personally. He made an appointment to meet Vernon at a restaurant to discuss a very lucrative deal – for drills of course – and said he would buy lunch. Vernon eagerly race to the very posh restaurant where a glamoured Ragnok had reserved a private room. After drinks and lunch was served (all very expensive since Vernon wasn't paying and thus he ordered the best) and as Vernon had gulped down his second single malt scotch and was pouring a third, Mr. Blade (Ragnok was using part of one of the unfaithful Goblins, Sharp Blade's name) the Goblin got down to the real business.

He informed Vernon that he knew all about the arrangements made between him and Dumbledore. Vernon paled and tried to act like he didn't know what Mr. Blade was talking about until Mr. Blade levitated the bottle of scotch and poured more of the potent liquid into Vernon's glass. After many denials and much haggling, Ragnok opened the brief case he had brought and showed Vernon the contents.

The Muggle's beady eyes sparkled when he saw the contents. There was £84,000 in cash in the case which would be the amount that Dumbledore would pay to Vernon until Harry went to Hogwarts. Naturally, it would be _**tax-free** _ since Dumbledore had arranged for special delivery the first of every month in cash.

"But the old Freak said he would pay us £1,000 per month until the Freak's 18th birthday. That would amount to roughly £250,000 pounds" Vernon said.

"Your addition is incorrect as the sum would be £204,000" Mr. Blade replied.

"Ah but you are not taking into consideration the added perks the old Freak offered such as the protection we would receive for taking the brat in and raising him…according to the old Freak's conditions" Vernon added smiling oily.

"I know about the 'special arrangements' between you and the old Freak and if the contents ever got out to the magical public there would be severe…consequences – mostly to you."

"Ah," Vernon replied, still with that nasty smile, "The old Freak promised our complete protection and as no one can find us (completely forgetting that Mr. Blade had found him)."

Now it was time for Ragnok to smile nastily. Although Vernon fancied himself a master salesman, a wheeler dealer of the first order and a master manipulator, he was nothing compared to any Goblin and most especially a Goblin of Ragnok's character, cunning and experience. However, the Goblin let the haggling continue longer than was necessary so that Vernon _**thought**_ he was winning. There was also a compulsion spell placed on Vernon's glass to keep gulping the contents down and refilling it. Finally Ragnok said "I'll think about it, so why not eat your meal" as he wanted Vernon to be sober enough to drive to Privet Drive, pick up Harry and bring him to a pre-arranged spot to hand the boy over (without Vernon or Harry being killed in a traffic accident) all by no later than 6:00 p.m. that day.

As Mr. Blade "thought" Vernon tucked into the massive meal he had ordered for himself (since the client was paying). He had ordered a double shrimp cocktail for starters, a sampler plate containing pate de foie gras, prosciutto on melon, Beluga caviar, ortolans (a very rare and expensive songbird that was illegal to serve in England but this restaurant "had connections and special protections") and two other delicacies Vernon had never heard of but wanted to try. It was enough for four people to sample but Vernon knew he could handle it.

His entree was Beef Wellington (which served two or more depending on the eaters) an assortment of special baby vegetables and saffron rice. Naturally a very good bottle of wine was ordered (and drunk mostly by Vernon) for each course. A wonderful dessert cart of exquisite and unusual confections had been wheeled in with the food as well as an excellent cheese board.

There was also a good brandy, port and various liquors and a box of excellent (and need I say expensive) cigars. Although Vernon didn't smoke, he would pocket as many as he could to give to clients of a certain sophistication and rank. Oh hell, he'd sneak out the entire box as it would look very good on his desk at work.

Ragnok had ordered the same meal as Vernon if only to prove a Goblin could outdo a Muggle as a trencherman any day. He match him morsel for morsel until Vernon had a sample of everything on the dessert cart, as Goblins didn't like sweets unless they were made with honey.

Vernon was very content and it wasn't until coffee was ordered and served and the waiter had left that Vernon asked "Have you made your decision?" he smirked.

Ragnok had decided to use his Plan B before the meal began. "I suppose I will have no alternative then to accept your request but on certain conditions. The extra £166,000 will have to be given in solid gold ingots which should actually be worth more than the £166,000 you are demanding and no, you can't have all of the funds in gold" Ragnok snapped knowing that the greedy Muggle was thinking.

"Also, you must have the boy at Greenleaf Park at the gazebo no later than 6:00 p.m. Besides the money and ingots, you will then be given a special item which should substitute for the boy so that Dumbledore won't know he is gone. And no, you can't have anything on account as I certainly don't trust you."

Vernon sighed as if annoyed but inside he was gleeful. As it was now 4:30 p.m., Vernon would have just enough time to go home, get the brat and then to the gazebo by 6:00 p.m. On his way out, he shamelessly took the intricately carved box of cigars and then took the bottle of 50 year old Napoleon brandy and put that in the inside pocket of his suit coat while throwing his coat over the box of cigars. "See you at 6" Vernon said cheerfully as he left Mr. Blade with the bill.

But Mr. Blade had other plans for Vernon. He paid the bill (adding extra for the brandy and cigars) left a very generous tip, and exited the restaurant as he had much to do before the meeting.

Dumbledore, as the illegally-appointed magical guardian for Harry, had made arrangements for G1,000 to be withdrawn from Harry's trust vault, with £1,000 of it in Muggle money. At £5 per galleon, that meant that Dumbles got to pocket G800 for use in "worthy projects" which was the yearly salary for some wizards.

Ragnok used some of that money for the £120,000 he was giving Vernon BUT knowing that the Muggle was very greedy, he had made arrangements to acquire the gold ingots in Leprechaun gold, which would disappear within 24 hours. Once he had Harry in his grasp, he would take some of the boy's blood and place it in a nice Muggle picture of Queen Elizabeth II, which Vernon was to hang in the dining room. The picture had already been specially spelled and once Harry's blood was added it would show that Harry was still present at Privet Drive and to protect the Dursleys, but only for two weeks until it would dissipate, which he didn't mention to Vernon.

He would then compel Vernon to sign certain documents relinquishing all rights to Harry, take them home for Petunia to countersign and then drop them off back at the gazebo. Naturally, Ragnok had obliviated him about the memory of Mr. Blade, where he had taken Harry and the documents he and Petunia had signed.

Vernon would have £120,000 in his possession and the monthly payments Dumbledore sent would cease, even to Dumbledore. As Head of Gringotts, Ragnok could then produce some of the documents which had been delivered by an anonymous house elf messenger authorizing the stoppage of all funds from Harry's trust vault not only to Dumbledore but to Petunia and Vernon Dursley.

As it was signed with a blood quill it was quite legal IF the Will of James Potter had said that Harry was to be placed with Lily's relatives. He had not as the Will stated in no uncertain terms that the Dursleys were never to get their claws into Harry. Since Dumbles had the Will sealed, he would have to unseal it, the truth discovered and since Dumbledore had not only lied about the Dursleys and his own guardianship, he would be in a lot of trouble.

Ragnok, the Ministry, lawyers and those trying to claim custody of Harry could not contest any of it because the documents all stated that the Dursleys were signing custody of Harry to the bearer of the documents, the name of which was missing. Then everybody would be able to yell (and threaten) Dumbledore for losing the Boy-Who-Lived to person(s) unnamed and thus untraceable. Who knew what fiend had the boy but all agreed he was probably in terrible danger and it was all Dumbledore's fault.

At 6:15 p.m., Cherry was at the door of the bolt hole asking for entrance for Harry. Lily and Sev quickly added the boy into the wards and took him in. Cherry gave a quick synopsis of what had happened and would tell more when she returned. Ragnok needed her back to get the signed documents and bring them to him so that he could swear that an anonymous house elf (who was veiled as Cherry would be) and delivered the documents to him and then disappeared before he could ask questions, etc.

Lily hugged her baby boy as only a mother whose baby had been gone for weeks could. It was Sev who noticed the condition the child was in and pointed it out to Lily.

In the few weeks the Dursleys had Harry the poor boy had lost weight, needed a nappy change immediately (it had been yesterday that his nappy was last changed) and was filthy. Sev did a quick check on the baby and was horrified at the results.

By now Lily had calmed down and noticed Harry's condition. Sev showed her the analysis he had done on the child and it took all of her self-control not to find Petunia and Vernon and seek a much needed revenge.

Poor Harry had a very bad case of nappy rash, apparently was only fed a bottle of milk a day, and had been kept in a small and very dusty and dirty room from the looks of his clothes. Actually it was the same one-piece sleeper he had been wearing on October 31st which would have to be thrown out and probably burnt as his excrement had been leaking from the over-filled nappy and all but destroyed it.

While Sev went to fetch a bottle of milk and some potions and salves, Lily started to bath Harry. Sev heard a scream and hurried to the bathroom to find Lily crying angry tears. Her poor baby (and Sev's also he remembered) was now stripped naked and place in a just-right warm bath revealing his already hurt body. There were bruises and other signs of rough handling on his tiny body, the serious nappy rash and even a few cuts. Lily was crying, Harry was crying but being a wizard and the type of man he was Sev was not crying – he was plotting a terrible retribution when things calmed down.

But Harry needed attending to first before anything else could be thought. Soon he was cleaned, his wounds treated, a bottle of milk drank and then a small nutrient potion spelled directly into his tummy. Lily rocked him to sleep and refused to put him down afraid he would somehow be torn from her arms again.

"Sev," she finally whispered after Harry was definitely asleep. "It has only been a few weeks and Harry is in this condition. Would he have even survived to turn two if he had been left there?"

"Thankfully we will never have cause to know, but sometime in the future, your sister and her despicable husband will pay for what they did to our son. We just have to think of something…heartbreaking…to do to them."

Cherry popped in with more news and a letter from Ragnok. "The important Goblin says that within a week it will be discovered that the baby is missing but no one will know where he is. The Goblin is now seeking a way to find Neville for you to raise. Once that is done, he estimates about a year must pass before youse can leave this place and go to another country. He explains in his letter."

The letter was read aloud by Sev because Lily still clung to Harry and Cherry should know everything.

He told about his luncheon meeting with Vernon (including the gluttony and theft of the cigars and brandy), his smugness but also the things Ragnok had done to Vernon – including reporting him to the Inland Revenue for not reporting the receipt of £120,000 which he would not report.

However, the best bit of info was a suggestion, which Sev agreed to immediately but Lily would have to think about it. Ragnok suggested that after Neville was rescued, all the wards placed by Dumbledore around the Dursley home and immediate area would have dissipated. He suggested a very good punishment for the Dursleys' horrendous treatment of their son should be the loss of THEIR child and Lily and Sev raising Dudley with Harry and Neville.

At the moment Lily could not decide whether or not she could allow such a thing to happen to her sister. She was too upset about Harry to think about the suggestion logically. But time would tell and if necessary (such as to save Dudley's life) she would save him and raise him as her own.

Since Ragnok had spent too much time away from the bank he had to return. As usual, he would contact them when he had news and said they should just enjoy the company of their baby. He also apologized for the condition the boy was in when brought to them, but "time was short and I thought you should know what they had done to an innocent child.

After two days, Harry had recovered now that he was in the loving arms of his mother, there was a dark-haired man who didn't look like anyone he could remember, but he was very nice to him, cured his owies and read to him about strange but interesting animals and other things. There was a small, funny-looking lady who was also very good to him and did all of the work and cooking so that his mummy could spend all of her time with him and the reading man. Life was now good and the child was content.

In his correspondence, Ragnok had answered most of their questions but there was one Sev wanted Cherry to ask the Goblin the next time she was summoned by him.

"Lily's vault was keyed into the name Gaufern, which is a combination of her four grandparents, which makes sense and is untraceable – hopefully – by Dumbledore. Would you please ask him if he knows why Charlus Potter named my vault 'Rosebud' as I can find no connection to it."

Cherry said she would and Sev resigned himself to waiting for an answer.


	7. Chapter 7 - Everything Is Coming Up Ragn

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Warning: This is a sad chapter

Chapter 7 – Everything's Coming Up Ragnok

Ragnok was in a very good mood as everything was going well – very well indeed. He had finally quashed the traitors, dealing with them as harshly and quickly as Goblin law demanded. He promoted some up-and-coming young Goblins who showed great promise but only after they made the strongest of oaths to Ragnok and for the honor of the Goblin Nation. Although some mopping up was still going on, much had been set straight and Ragnok had hopes that nothing like this would ever occur again – at least on his watch.

He had been able to contact Lord Arcturus regarding the turn-over to him of Neville. He agreed to the terms of Rabastan and Barty, Jr., just as long as no harm had been done to Neville. Andromeda Black Tonks was to act as the go between and once Neville was turned over to her and a healer pronounced him unharmed, Andromeda would hand over a briefcase containing a large amount of British Pounds Sterling and U.S. Dollars, Muggle documents such as passports, driver's licenses and birth certificates and a key to a safety deposit box at the Bank of America in New York City, USA. The safety deposit box contained Muggle bearer bonds in the amount of US$200,000 for each, which was a substantial sum to help them get a new start.

The purchasing of luggage and clothing and how they got to New York City was their problem and Andromeda strongly recommended they fly the Muggle way and not directly to New York – for their own safety.

All was done by 5:15 p.m. with Neville being confirmed as safe and fairly happy as he had a kitten to play with. He was then taken to Lord Arcturus for protection and no one was to know that he had rescued the boy as he was one of the heirs to the Black Lordship and he was not going to be used by Dumbledore. If Neville was returned to his Grandmother Augusta, Dumbledore would convince her to place Neville in his care, perhaps even before it was time for the boy to attend Hogwarts.

Lord Arcturus had asked Ragnok if he knew the whereabouts of Severus Snape as besides Snape being the heir to the Prince Lordship, he was also an _**adult male heir**_ to the Blacks.

"I know that he is alive as his – and his son's – names are listed on the main Black Heritage Tapestry which shows all persons born a Black – legitimate and…born on the wrong side of the blanket. My late son Orion, as my designated heir, had a _**very limited copy**_ of the Tapestry which was mainly for show. My niece Walburga burned off the names of those she felt unworthy of the House of Black and in her opinion burning their names off officially disowned a person and their offspring. However, only _The Lord Black_ may disown someone and the only person to be disowned in the last two centuries was Cedrella Black who married Septimus Weasley. I need not remind you why that was done."

Ragnok had listened very politely to Lord Arcturus and replied that he would look into it. Safely behind the walls of the unplottable Castle Black, where NO ONE was allowed in unless they had Black blood running through their veins or were married to a Black, in which case they would be "blood adopted" by Lord Arcturus, would be an ideal place for Lily, Sev and Harry to live along with Neville. He would have to run it and all of the advantages by the couple before he acted.

When Ragnok stated "he would look into it" Arcturus took it to mean (correctly) that the Goblin knew where they were but was under a sacred oath not to reveal the information unless he had permission. That was one of the reasons that Ragnok was the only Goblin Arcturus had ever trusted.

They parted amicably with Arcturus taking Neville, and his new friend Fuzzy the kitten, back to Castle Black. Ragnok had some paperwork to take care of as well as calling for Cherry. He gave her a letter for Lily and Sev asking for an appointment at their bolt hole to discuss a very serious matter as well as to tell them of Neville's rescue – after they had first sworn a sacred oath not to reveal it to anyone.

Cherry quickly returned and the appointment was set for the day after tomorrow, as Ragnok had unavoidable meetings to attend the next day. That done he was finally able to get home for supper for the first time in weeks.

He had been missing the comfort of his beloved mate, Bahtoola. Next to his sacred honor and loyalty to the Goblin Nation, she was his everything, as were Ragooah and Toola, the two daughters she had borne him.

In the Goblin world a son was always desired but daughters were cherished. For every three males only one female was born, so naturally duels were fought for the right to marry. Ragnok had to fight and win against two other males, both from very good and powerful families. The second duel nearly saw him killed, but the thought of having Bahtoola as his mate had made him fight harder not only to win but to survive.

It was a love match, but had he lost, Bahtoola would have gone to one of the others whether she wanted to or not as that was the Goblin way.

Both his daughters had had many suitors not only because they were healthy, beautiful (in the Goblin world) intelligent and skillful. Ragooah became a highly respected healer and Toola was an artisan of the first rank. Also they were the daughters of the powerful Ragnok and an alliance with his House was much desired. Much of his power was due to his hard work, talents and indisputable honor, but it also helped that he was the nephew of Ragall, the current Head of the Goblin Nation.

Thus, they had made very good marriages, although Toola had moved to her husband's country and only saw her family during the high Goblin holy days. But both girls had given Ragnok and Bahtoola a grandchild (again girls but they were healthy). Now Ragnok had his Bahtoola all to himself and with the exception of the latest troubles which took up much of his attention, it was like it was when they were first married and before the girls were born.

Bahtoola hadn't change since those first days except to become even more talented and loving. She too was considered an artisan in the arts of weaving and designing. Her work was in much demand, and when Ragnok wished to reward someone, they would receive one of her tapestries or beautifully woven cloth embroidered with silken, gold and silver threads, and although the cloth was for clothes, they were considered such a work of art that those so honored by the gift used them as wall hangings or framed them as the treasure they were.

Bahtoola had retained her looks and luscious figure despite being one of the best cook, baker and brewer in Goblin Britain. Ragnok had sent word that he would be home for dinner and his mouth watered knowing that his mate would be making him a memorable dinner. Unfortunately, it would be memorable but not in the way Ragnok thought.

He arrived at his home at the promised time and was greeted by his mate. She had dressed carefully and as always looked beautiful to his eyes. In fact, she was wearing her wedding dress. When a Goblin married, the female was clad in the best attire she possessed. Bahtoola had, of course, woven the fabric and adorned it. Unlike humans, a wedding dress was also worn on special occasions and throughout the years it was altered to reflect the success of the male.

Bahtoola considered this a very special occasion as her mate had overcome his enemies, restored the honor of British Goblins and his name and the fame he gained from his victories would be sung for all time starting, no doubt, at the yearly Clan Assembly. This was an annual event celebrated by all Goblin Clans where meetings were held, marriages were arranged, duels were fought and honors were bestowed. There was no doubt that Ragnok would be the most honored at the assembly and songs of praise for him were probably already being composed.

In anticipation of the honors, Bahtoola and woven a netting of gold, silver and seed pearls which fit over the top half of her dress which she intended to wear for the first time at the assembly but decided that she would wear it tonight to please her mate.

The room had been decorated with herbs, flowers and incense as well as the delicious aromas of the feast his mate had lovingly prepared. Ragnok _almost sighed_ (which was something no "real" Goblin would do) as he anticipated the delights yet to come. Only his personal gravitas presented him from skipping the meal and taste those delights immediately.

Bahtoola knew exactly what she was doing as did he, but love is even sweeter when it is delayed – for a bit.

Bahtoola was reenacting the ancient Goblin ceremony of Reverence to the Great Lord. She was honoring Ragnok as his devoted, respectful and loving mate. The next step in the ceremony was to offer him wine and taste if to see if it was worthy of so magnificent a Lord.

"Husband, you have a choice of drinks as I have a 50 year old elf-made blood wine or the gift which Lord Arcturus sent to you today in thanks for all of your hard and honest work on his and his heirs' behalf."

Ragnok knew that Lord Arcturus was a connoisseur of great wines and other liquors. In fact, he attributed his long life to the limited daily imbibing of those good things. Ragnok was honored that Lord Arcturus had sent him something from his famous collection.

"What is it?" Ragnok asked.

Bahtoola brought the bottle to the table and read, as best she could, the strange language on the label. "It says that it is Nap-pol-le-un brandy made in 1875. Would this be acceptable?"

"Open it and inhale the bouquet" Ragnok ordered.

She did and after a sniff her face lit up and said "It smells wonderful, husband. It smells of good dark earth, herbs, flowers and I believe almonds. If it tastes as good as its aroma, it is a most excellent gift."

"Well, then my mate, serve the brandy."

He watched as Bahtoola poured some of the contents into his victory goblet. Then, according to the ceremony, she humbly approached the table, bowed respectfully and said "My Great Lord, I offer this drink in your honor." Tradition stated that she taste the liquid to see if it was indeed worthy of Ragnok.

She drank, swallowed and was about to tell him it was delicious when her entire body tensed. She felt fire quickly spread throughout her veins and shrieked before falling to the floor where she withered in pain.

Ragnok quickly went to her aid and took her tenderly in his arms. She just managed to say "My love…Ragn…" before the light went out of her beautiful eyes.

Outside the door stood four members of Ragnok's personal guard who had sworn to protect Ragnok and his family until death claimed them. Suddenly, they heard a painful, desperate, very loud wail of grief and pain. It almost sounded like Ragnok was the origin but that was…impossible…as Ragnok was a warrior of great skill and honor and he would never utter such a cry of pain.

They quickly broke through the door only to find Ragnok, clutching the body of his mate and letting out a keening of heartbreaking grief. They were stunned and did not know what to do until one approached Ragnok and began to ask "My Lord, what has hap…."

"Assassination" Ragnok snapped out. "Revenge will be swift, horrible and _**terrible**_ to behold."

He then went back to his grieving as two of the guards were sent off to get the proper authorities.

When Ragnok didn't arrive for the meeting, Lily and Sev knew that something was dreadfully wrong. They were worried for him, and not just themselves, as there had been so much he had gone through and though he had "won" there was always the possibility of disaster striking when one least expected.

Cherry was sent to see what had happened. Goblins kept a few house elves as special messengers and shopping. Cherry had made friends with Bosc and when she could not get an appointment with Ragnok, she looked for Bosc. He told her what had been happening and to tell her family to wait until Ragnok had the time to see them.

An anxious Cherry went back to the family in a state of agitation. It took her 10 minutes to calm down enough to tell of the tragedy.

"It was said that Lord Arcturus sent the poisoned brandy, but once he had calmed down, Ragnok doubted it had been that Lord as he knew him to be a man of honor and he had no reason to kill Ragnok. Therefore, he knew that it was an enemy and he has sworn that he will be avenged."

"How horrible for the poor man – uh Goblin" Lily opined. "Can we send him a sympathy card?"

"No" Sev replied. "It is not the Goblin way and we also might expose ourselves. He will understand. The best we can do is to wait until he has gotten his revenge. Cherry, does he have any suspects?"

"From what Bosc told this elf, there are a few non-British Goblins, whose relatives were caught and punished by Ragnok for their attempts to destroy him and Goblin honor. Also, there are a few powerful wizards who would be stupid enough to try to assassinate him, but his main suspect is – pardon a direct quote from Bosc - Dumble#*#& &&* **, who has always wanted Ragnok out of the way because he wouldn't 'cooperate' with Dumble#*#& &&* **."

Sev sighed and said "That sounds logical, as Dumble#*#& &&* ** doesn't like competition or people who disagree with him."

"So we just sit and wait?" Lily asked.

"Yes" was the reply "But we can also play with our son and do some research and revel in the fact that we are safe."

At this point, that was all they could do.


	8. Chapter 8 - Aftermath

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 8 – Aftermath

Just to be…thorough…Ragnok called Arcturus' messenger elf. He made the elf swear on the honor of the House of Black that Lord Arcturus had nothing to do with the assassination attempt on him and the death of his beloved wife. The elf swore and then Ragnok gave him a letter to deliver to his Lord immediately and bring back an answer. The elf did as he was told and within the hour Arcturus had sent his reply.

In his soul Ragnok knew that Arcturus was an honorable man – for a wizard. Arcturus wrote that he was shocked, horrified and then extremely angry that someone had dared to use his name and honor to assassinate Ragnok. He expressed his deep regret for Ragnok's devastating loss and promised to give any help he could to avenge Ragnok's lady.

In the letter Ragnok had asked Arcturus' thoughts on who would dare to commit the deed. Also, since the poisoned brandy did bear the mark of coming from the special personal cellars of the House of Black, who else would have access to the brandy.

"I selfishly keep this brandy for myself. I rarely gift it to anyone and when I do it is to family members. I sent my late son Orion a crate of the 1958 vintage after the birth of his Regulus, and a few bottles, I think it was 1976. He could drink as much as he liked when he visited me – without his #*&#&^&^ wife, who I didn't want having access to our cellars as the &#*#&&& would gift it to unworthy people – or probably sell it."

"Bellatrix received a case of the 1953 vintage after the loss of her child and my cousin Cassiopeia has her own supply, which I keep at Castle Black after her crate was stolen when she took a research trip. Apparently, the elf she left guarding her house had been out shopping for cleaning supplies – and to visit his cousin, one of the Malfoy elves – and when he returned the brandy and many rare wines were missing as well as other valuables."

"My dearest brother Regulus died in 1959 – under suspicious circumstances as you know – and before I could get to his house to retrieve his possessions and valuables, someone had beat me to it, killed his elf and emptied his cellar. Other than that, I have kept all of the brandy, wines and firewhiskey made by House of Black and placed the vineyards and distillery under extremely strong wards, where only I and a few elves may enter. The elves rotate so they won't lose their magic, but there are only 12 elves who tend the estate and make the beverages."

"The only persons who I could possibly blame is my #*&& (* Cousin Pollux and Cousin Cygnus, the father of Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa. Perhaps one of them somehow 'acquired' the brandy and gifted, or in cheapo Cygnus' case, sold it."

"My guess is that some came into Lucius' possession and, out of revenge, it was sent to you to frame me. However, although I have no proof, I would wager that Dumbledore received a bottle or two due to Sirius' 'rebellion' as I have been told he had taken a few family heirlooms when he fled to the Potters and/or inherited his Uncle Alphard's vault. I didn't like Alphard, so I _sold_ him brandy but only after he swore not to gift or sell it to anyone. There might have been some left in his vault"

"You mentioned that Lucius and Dumbledore had compromised the bank and since Lucius is in Azkaban, Dumbledore remains the culprit most likely to assassinate you to regain power over Gringotts Britain."

Arcturus ended the letter with a suggestion about a Muggle practice which even Dumbledore wouldn't know about. Ragnok had heard about such a thing as "fingerprints" but how to obtain them in the Magical World would be difficult – but not impossible. He couldn't touch Dumbledore at Hogwarts but since the Greatest Wizard since Merlin was constantly at the Ministry giving advice, presiding over the Wizengamot and conducting trials of Death Eaters, he had to leave his prints somewhere.

Deciding it was long passed the time that he should meet with Lily and Severus, he arranged a meeting at another "safe place" and called for Cheery to alert them.

Leaving Harry in the safe care of Wilma, Cheery, Lily and Severus met with Ragnok, nine days after the death of his wife. Being raised as Muggles, Lily and Sev would know about fingerprints such as how to obtain, interrupt and catch the guilty party. Ragnok had had the presence of mind to keep the bottle and gave it to the couple.

"I can see some prints on it" Sev stated levitating the bottle so as not to leave his own prints. "There appears to be two, maybe three human prints and two others that are smaller and presumably are house elves prints."

"Oh if only we had samples of Dumbledorkdoodoo's prints" Lily said.

"Actually" Sev said with a rather smug smirk on his face "When I was going through my 'create a new spell' phase at school, I did discover how to detect fingerprints by modifying the spell for finding magical signatures. Some…pranksters…some even in my own house, but very few, had an extra wand or two to do some mischief and using a different wand can change a magical mark just a bit, but enough to detect whose magic it was."

"Sev, is that why you tried to talk me into getting an extra secret wand as we started fifth year?" Lily asked.

"Yes, mostly for safety reasons as it is always wise to have an extra wand without a trace on it if only for self-defense. The Fiendish Foursome (what Sev called the Marauders) each had at least one extra wand. Pettigrew and Lupin only had one as that is all they could afford, but Potter (he spat out) and Black (may he rot in hell) had several. That was how they got away with some of the more nasty pranks they did as only their official wand was checked and found not to have cast certain things."

"However," he continued "I would need a sample of each print to initially match it up, so we need to at least get Dumbledamnit's prints and anything that would have the prints of other suspects."

It was decided that Lord Arcturus would arrange for samples of certain prints to be obtained, by sending Black elves into certain homes and "borrowing" items that had been touched by the most likely culprits. As Cheery was still technically a Potter elf, she was able to enter any Potter property and did so. It took nearly a week for Potter, Black, Malfoy and a few other prints to be found, catalogued and be spelled into a list, but strangely enough, only two days to get the prints of Dumbledore and all the current living teachers.

However, after careful checking, Cheery informed and Ragnok confirmed that house elves all had the same prints, so it could only be determined that an elf had touched something but not which elf did the touching.

While this was being accomplished, Ragnok had contacted Arcturus, briefing him of the findings and saying that he was still in "negotiations" with Lily and Sev concerning them and Harry living at Castle Black. All Black wards were formidable and as an extra precaution, a Fidelius would be cast with Arcturus as secret keeper. Since he now rarely, if ever, left the safety of the castle, it was an ideal situation.

Lily and Sev would give their answer after the "problem" with the brandy was resolved. Arcturus would wait for the Fidelius to be done after the decision was made as all who would be allowed in the castle would be there for the casting, thus negating the need for a note to be read informing others of the whereabouts.

Unlike Dumbledore's Fidelius, nobody would be getting in Castle Black unless Arcturus wanted them there.

It had indeed been Dumbledore who had arranged the assassination. The bottle had the prints of Cygnus, Narcissa and Sirius Black, and lastly Dumbledore's. Somehow Sirius had "retrieved" a bottle (and probably more) from Narcissa and had gifted Dumbles with a bottle as it was well-known that he was a connoisseur of fine wines and brandies. No doubt he was saving it for a special occasion – such as framing Lord Arcturus by getting rid of another Dumbledore enemy.

Now that Arcturus was "cleared" and Ragnok had reported the outrage and all its details to the Goblin King and Council of the Goblin Nation.

King and Council were not at all surprised. They had been observing Dumbledore for decades and their sources had warned that Dumbledore was not the Leader of the Light or even a Light wizard. Unfortunately, they could not use this evidence as proof of his dastardly dealings, but it was a start and hopefully he would make one mistake that he could not cover up or talk, blackmail, spell, curse, etc. himself out of it.

There was a rather large, fat file already on the wizard and the Goblins could wait until such time as they had him trapped. Meanwhile, they had closed access to Harry's trust vault as well as several other orphans who he had been named guardian (by himself). He would fight it, but first he had to find the orphans as _somehow_ , they had all gone missing – courtesy of the Goblins – but that would be a secret, for now.

For several months no one had noticed that Harry was missing as Cheery had been tasked with using Harry's blood to renew the sham wards on the picture. However, once things had been settled, children rescued and placed in good homes (outside of Britain) and their trust and family vaults safe from certain greedy fingers, the blood renewal on Harry (and the other children) was removed, wards fell and the people who were aiding and abetting Dumbledore were in a lot of trouble.

The Dursleys were in more trouble than a Muggle who was lost and accidentally dropped in and asked for directions at a Death Eater convention. Vernon had been furious when the gold ingots disappeared, but not as livid as the _organization_ he had sold them to when the Leprechaun gold vanished into thin air. He had sold the ingots short to get ready cash and not have to report it to the taxman. The only thing that had saved him was the ingots being locked in the organization's vault.

"Somebody stole your gold, right out of your vault and you can't blame me for that" Vernon had stated. "It was probably an inside job so whoever is flimsily accusing me of the impossibility of theft is no doubt the thief or their accomplice."

Luckily for Vernon, that made sense as it was a wild accusation. He had only been blamed by the accomplice so that he could find out who had sold the organization all of that gold. Unfortunately, it was an undercover policeman who had penetrated the organization, noticed it was Leprechaun gold (after it disappeared) and he needed to know for both his worlds who was breaking the Statue of Secrecy.

Yes, he was a Muggleborn wizard who, of course, had not been able to get a job in the Magical World, but like so many before (and after him) had finished his Muggle education and was snapped up by the police and government agencies as wizards and witches were very valuable. Therefore, before he was "taken for a ride and fitted for cement overshoes" he apparated from his doom and reported to his superiors – in both worlds.

Vernon was lying low but now the Muggle police were watching him, waiting for him to make one mistake too many and then spring on him. It wasn't until the wards fell and _somehow_ the news got out that Harry Potter was missing and presumed…whatever…that the Dursleys' world began to crumble.

They were taken into police custody (much to their shame and the delight of the neighborhood) for questioning and explanations and when no one was looking, Dudley just disappeared. Cheery had rescued him at Lily's request and with Arcturus' permission. She would not see her only nephew end up in the "system" or with the odious Marge Dursley or be the victim of the Magical World or Dumbledore.

No one knew or cared (except his parents) how he went missing, who had him, where he was or even if he was alive and/or safe. On a hunch, the child was given a thorough medical and magical exam and lo and behold, it was found that Dudley had magic, but it had been recently bound. Hmmm, wonder how and why that happened?

Since it had been done recently, a Goblin healer had been able to reverse it and after the already spoiled boy "calmed down" and was given some firm, but fair and non-physical training, he settled in nicely with Harry and Neville and the other cousins who would be born when Lily and Sev got around to producing them.

In any event, they were safe, all of them. They were raised "properly" but with love and educated in both Muggle and Magical realms. Lily and Sev taught them "Muggle things" and before they would go to Hogwarts, they had the equivalent of a secondary education – even Dudley.

But would they indeed attend Hogwarts? Dumbledore was still in power and unknown to him walking a thin (a very thin) tightrope. He was also still looking for Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom as he did know from the Goblins _**ONLY**_ that both boys were alive "But who knows where they are" the Goblins told him.

As far as Dumbledore was concerned THEY WOULD BE ATTENDING HOGWARTS as he had sneakily passed laws stating that any child born after January 1, 1979 in Britain or had British parents who had fled the war HAD TO ATTEND HOGWARTS OR HAVE THEIR MAGIC BOUND. He rationalized it as Britain needed to repopulate Magical Britain and this was the only way to assure the future generations.

Now, all Albus Dumbledore had to do was to wait, something he was good at doing. He could make new plans, come up with a few alternate plans (just in case) and get his way in all things as usual. He would have his pawns and be ready for when Tom…resurrected…and the game could begin again!

THE END


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